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Feeling of presence in dementia with Lewy bodies is related to reduced left frontoparietal metabolism.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Eger, Antoine F 
Assal, Frederic 
Garibotto, Valentina 

Abstract

Feeling of presence (FOP) refers to the vivid sensation of a person's presence near oneself and is common in Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). Based on previous observations on epileptic subjects, we hypothesized that DLB subjects with FOP would harbour 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET hypometabolism in left parietal areas. 25 subjects (mean age 71.9 ± 6.7, disease duration at scan 1.7 ± 1.5 years) were included in the study, of whom nine (36%) experienced FOP. No significant between-group difference was observed regarding dopamine transporters striatal uptake (p = 0.64), daily dopaminergic treatment dosage (p = 0.88) and visual hallucinations (p = 0.83). Statistical parametric mapping showed that subjects with FOP had a significantly reduced glucose metabolism in several left frontoparietal areas (p < 0.001), including superior parietal lobule and precuneus. Interregional correlation analysis of these areas showed specific connectivity with right insula and putamen in the FOP subgroup and right orbitofrontal and superior frontal in subjects without FOP. This provides further evidence about the role of a left frontoparietal network and suggest a possible contribution of impaired orbitofrontal reality filtering associated with FOP.

Description

Funder: University of Cambridge

Keywords

Brain glucose metabolism, Dementia, Psychosis, Statistical parametric mapping, Aged, Cerebral Cortex, Hallucinations, Humans, Lewy Body Disease, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Positron-Emission Tomography

Journal Title

Brain Imaging Behav

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1931-7557
1931-7565

Volume Title

14

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC